Match-box holder.



J. A. GHEAPE.

AAAAA OX .HOLDER.

srarns rarnnr orrrcn,

JOHN ALBERT CHEAPE, OF CHARLOTTESVLLE, VIBGINIA, ASSIGNOE TO MATCH SAVER COMPANY, OF CHARLOTTESVLLE, VIEGINIA, A CORPOBATION OF VIRGINIA.

lVATCI-I-BOX HOLDER.

pecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. t, 1913.

Application filed December 5, 1911. Serial No. 66 5013.

To (LZ'Z who ut it may concern Be it known that l JOHN Annnn': CnEArn, a. subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Charlottesville, in county of Albemarle and State of Virginia, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Match-Box Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in holders for match boxes, and the Object is to provide a holder upon which the body and cover are locked in such a manner that to remove them it is necessary to mutilate or entirely destroy one member at least of the box.

A further object is to provide an article composed of two members stamped from thin shcet metal, forininga simple, inexpensive and ornamental article, a plunger which is received within the cover, and a back plate fastened to the wall, said two members adapted to be locked together, thereby to hold the match box upon the wall in a convenient form.

`With these objects in view my .invention consists in certain novcl features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view in perspective of the holder attached to the wall, and showing a match box in place; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but. with the box removed; Fig. 3 is a view in front ele ation of the two members ast-he plunger is about to be applied to the back plate; Fig, 4: is a longitudiual sectional view of the holder showing the two members locked together; and Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the plunger.

The holder is composed of a back plate 1, adapted to be held in place on the wall by screws 2, 2, and a plungcr 3 which is locked to the back plate 1 after the match box is placed thereon. The plunger 3 is composed of a single piece of met-al having flanges 4, a, ben-t up on the lower edges thereof to form an enlargement which in bottom plan is of very nearly the same rectangular form as the body of a match box. Bi tongue 5 's struck from the upper portion of the plunger and is bent rearwardly and then approximately parallel with the portion from which it is struek. Flanges (3, 6, are provided upon the upper shoulder of the lower portion, and barbs 7, 7, are bent forwardly approximately at a right angle to the main body, and have their holding edge toward the bottom. A spur 8 is struek approximately in the center of the enlarged portion, and is bent forwardly with its engaging edge upwardly.

The back plate 1 is provided with flanged edges which hold the body slightly raised from the surface to which it is attached, and at its upper end it is provided with an opening 9., At the lower end a tongue 10 is struck and is bent forwardly and then upwardly approximately parallel with the face of the back plate, and at the upper end of the tongue an Opening 11 is provided.

To apply a match box to the holder: assuming that the back plate l is attachecl to the wall, as shown in Fig. 3, the match box has the cover removed, the body containing the matches is pressed downwardly against the fianges 6 of the plunger 3, and is then pressed inwardly against the barbs 7, 7, which penetrate the bottom of the body. As the usual box in which safety matches are sold are manufactured from wood, and the bottom of the body portion has the grain running lengthwise, it will be seen that the barbs 7 will readily penetrate through the wood, and the lower hold ing edges would engage the upper side of the end portion which is retained by the flanges 6 on its lower side. The enlarged portion of the plunger is then inserted into the cover of the box until the upper back plate in such a manner that the tongue 5 and the upper portion of the plunger, and in this position the front side of the cover retains the matches in the body of the box. The plunger 3, with the body and cover members of the box in position thereon, is then placed against the face of the back plate in such manner that the tongue 5 passes through the Opening 9 and the opening 12 in the lower fiange of the plunger is directly above the tongue 10. Downward pressure is then eXerted upon the plunger member, which forces the flange 5 downwardly behind the back plate, and

i causes the tongue 10 to move up through the Opening 12 and over spur 8, until said spur engages in the opening 11 of the upper end of the tongue 10. The plunger is supported by the tongue striking the lower edge of the Opening 9 and the rear edge of the Opening 12 striling the tongue 10. The parts will now assume the position disclosed in Figs. 2 and 4, and it will be seen that the two members are securely locked together, and that when the match box is in place as shown in Fig. 1, it is impossible to release the looking means without mutilating at least one of the two members of the box. \When it is desired to remove the old box and substitute therefor a new one, the 'front side of the cover member of the box will be torn therefrom and the tongue 10 raised, so that spur 8 is released from the Opening 11 and the parts may be moved upwardly and out of engagement with each other. In this way it will be seen that I have provided a match box holder composed of two members which may be stamped from thin sheet metal at a very small cost, the members of which are'readily locked together to secure the box, and are readily unloclred after the contents have been removed, and at the same time providing a simple, attractive and eflicient article for the purpose intended.

Having fully described my invention, what I Claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of inanufacture, a matchbox holder composed of two members, each of said members having inwardly projecting tongucs in position to embrace a portion of the other member when said members are slid together, one of said tongues in the form of a spring-catch adapted to interlock with a barb on the other member to automatically fasten the two members together, one member having a plunger which enters the cover and displaces the match-box.

2. As an article of manu'tacture, a matchbox holder composed of two members, one slotted and provided with a spring-tongue, the other slotted and provided with a tongue and struck into' shape to form a plunger, and the plunger member having barbs which penetrate the box, and having a barb also which i coperates with the spring-tongue whereby to automatically look the members together when assembled.

3. As an article of manufacture, a match box holder consisting of two members, a plunger having barbs adapted to secure one section of the box, the plunger adapted to be inserted into the other section, a back plate provided with a tongue and an orifice, a tongue on the plunger adapted to be inserted through the orifice, the plunger having a barb therein and an orifice at its lower end through which the tongue on the back-plate is inserted, and which barb is aclapted to be engaged by the tongue on the back-plate whereby to automatically lock the two members together.

4:. As an article of manufacture, a match' box holder comprising two members detachably comieeted together, each of said members having a tongue and one member having a barb for engaging and interlocking with the other tongue, said tongues receiving and embracing the box cover between them and one p member having a plunger adapted to enter the box cover and displace the box, said member also having means for penet-rating and securing the box.

5. As an article of manufacture, a matchbox holder comprising two members detachable from each other, each member carrying means for embraoing the cover of the box from opposite ends, one of said means cooperating with means on the other member for looking the two members together, and one member having means for displacing the box within its cover, said latter-named member also having a barb which engages the embracing means on the other member for securing thebox against removal :from the holder.

6. As an article of manufacture, a match box holder comprising two members, each of which members has a tongue, one member struck up into the form of a plunger and having an Opening at its lower end to receive the 'tongue of the other member, and means within the plunger to interlock with said latter tongue when the tongue is inserted through the slot in the lower end of the plunger and the tongue on the plunger member entering a slot in the other member and holding the box cover at its ends confined between the two tongues.

7 As an article of manufacture, a match box holder comprising two members, each of which members has a tongue, one member struck up into the form of a plunger and having an Opening at its lower end to receive the tongue of the other member, means within the plunger to interlock with said latter tongue when the tongue is inserted through the slot in the lower end of the plunger and the tongue on the plunger member entering a slot in the other member and holding the box cover at its ends confined between 'the two tongues, and means on the plunger member for penetrating the box in the direction of its grain. v

8. As an article of manufacture, a match box holder comprising two members, one member having an open slot at one end and a spring tongue at the other end, said tongue having an orfice therein, the other member having a tongue at one end adapted to enter the slot in the other member and struck up to 'form a plunger at the other end which plunger has a slotat its lower end adapted to receive the spring tongue of the other member when the two members are slid together,

a spur forned Within the plunger in posi- In testimony whereof I affix my signature, ton1 to enter the orifice in the spring tongue in the presence of two witnesses. o tie ot ier member, said member having a plunger having barbs adapted to perce the JOHN ALBERT CHEAPE' 5 box Whereby the renoval of both the box Witnesses:

and cover :from the holder Without being R. WESTAOOTT, destroyed is precluded. O. J. WORTI-I.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by adressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

